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Following five days of hearings the five-member panel of the first Peoples’ Tribunal on Economic Crime released their preliminary findings last night. The findings, read out by Justice Zak Yacoob at Constitution Hill provide a strong call for accountability. They echo the closing message to the People’s Tribunal by South African Council of Churches Secretary General, Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana that South Africans should ‘let justice roll on like a river.’

The concrete recommendations include a strong call for South African state institutions as well as various European states to investigate serious instances of economic crime. Evidence collected by the Tribunal will in due course be handed over to the relevant state authorities to assist future investigations.

The members of the panel, have in the interest of fairness provided a three-month window in which implicated parties may respond to evidence presented to the People’s Tribunal. These will be considered by the Panel before they make a decision of when to release a final report.

The five esteemed members of the panel are: Zak Yacoob, Navi Pillay, Dinga Sikwebu, Mandisa Dyantyi and Allyson Maynard Gibson. The Tribunal’s organising committee comprises a range of civil society organisations, including Corruption Watch, the Foundation for Human Rights, Open Secrets, Public Affairs Research Institute and the Right2Know Campaign.

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